Before I was a fan of board games, before I was a fan of comic books, even before I was a fan of movies with a guy in a big rubber monster suit… I was a fan of music. I’d sit for hours in my room, listening to CDs, looking through the booklet at the lyrics and all the cool artwork inside. Even just the other day, I was driving home from work, and I decided to turn on the radio instead of a podcast or playlist from Spotify. Within seconds, my mind was transported 30 years in the past to my bedroom. All it took was a few notes from the middle of Longview by Green Day. The whiplash was almost jarring. One second, I’m driving home in the dark down highway 77 South from a job where I have 16 years of service. The next I am 8 years old in my bedroom with Legos on the floor, scouring that incredibly detailed cover art of Dookie. When time travelers arrive, and we ask them the secret to time travel, I am sure that their answer will be “music”. I’m not saying this like I have some special love for music that others don’t understand. No. I’m aware we all have those songs, those albums, that transport us to an earlier time in our lives. However, I digress. I bring up music as it’s the central theme for today’s game: DJ Icon.
In DJ Icon, designed by Mike Trias at Koalatie Games, you take on the role of a DJ, battling the other players to create the best mix. Based on the tokens you acquire during the game, you will calculate your score at the end and find out which player is the true DJ Icon.
Theme
The theme with this game is so well done. Let’s first address the elephant in the room: The game has a record that you spin in the center of the game board as a core game mechanic. (The production version will have a fabric “mousepad” material that spins easily, but can be upgraded to a vinyl record.) You take on the role of a DJ and you’re literally spinning a record. Around the outside of the record are various musical genres. This drives home the mixing aspect of being a DJ, (taking a little something from reggae, and a little something from hip-hop) to get the tokens you need for your final mix.
In addition to making your music, you must also make sure you are better than your opponents. DJ battles are real competitions between DJs where they play their mixes and try to one-up each other in a live setting for a real crowd. In this game, this is done through the use of Battle Cards. These Battle Cards allow you to claim tokens, but many of them also either let you move your player marker or spin the whole record. Some Battle Cards even allow you to move an opposing player’s marker before claiming a token. Very rarely will you play a Battle Card that doesn’t disrupt at least one other player’s strategy.
One of the most interesting parts of this game is the real-time aspect of playing these Battle Cards. This really plays into the freestyle make-it-up-as-you-go nature of feeling the vibe of a crowd and mixing the music they need. I’m not normally a fan of real-time action taking in a tabletop game, but this works well. It feels organic. There is quick-thinking required, since your Battle Cards in hand could have a different result based on how the last player changed the board state.
I know we already mentioned how cool spinning the record is, but I want to highlight the game board in general. The are a few different variable game rules to fit the players’ taste. There are tokens to place on the board in specific locations to act as a reminder of what game rules you are currently using. The placement of these tokens look like buttons and indicators you would see on the top of a DJ’s turntable. The visual design of the board really bridges the gap between theme and mechanics.
Mechanics
At its core, this is a classic set collection game. There are 5 different icons on the various tokens (6 icons if you include a wild). Each icon has a different endgame scoring rule. One icon may score 3 points for every pair you collect. Another is tiered, giving more points for every additional icon you collect. And some just award negative points. You will want to avoid getting certain icons at all cost. And to mix things up, for each of these 5 different icons there are 6 different scoring tiles. Some of these are a lot of fun. For instance… Negative Publicity.
So, if you’re going to collect those heart icons, you better really go for it. Because, if you get stuck with 7-8 of them, that could cost you the game. Some of the scoring tiles introduce ways to give or steal tokens from your opponents. So, you can play with as much or as little “take that” as your group enjoys.
I mentioned before that I enjoyed the real-time aspect of playing Battle Cards. After you resolve the Battle Card you play, you start the sand timer included in the game. If the timer runs out, then the Battle Phase is over. Another player must jump in if they want to play a card. Sometimes players are racing to play their cards, slamming their cards down at the same time. Other times, players are playing chicken with one another, hoping the other plays their card to disrupt the current board state.
The game is played over a set number of rounds based on the number of players. Once that final round is up, players calculate their final scores based on the scoring tiles.
Final Thoughts
This is a fun game. It takes a unique board gimmick with spinning the record, and combines it with an effective set collection method. The game really does a great job making sure all aspects feel thematic and intuitive. It presents some unique decision making with the real-time Battle Cards. And you can change up the final scoring tiles to make sure the game doesn’t feel too predictable on subsequent playthroughs. I played this game with some of my children. We are already looking forward to a day when this game is successfully funded and we can get it to the table again. Look forward to the Kickstarter launching later this year. Give Koalatie Games a follow on social media to stay up to date with everything.
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